According to a report by Ghanaweb on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, former Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, has strongly reacted to claims by former Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu that businessman Ibrahim Mahama intervened in the release of the 2016 presidential election results.
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In a sharp social media post, Charlotte Osei quoted a report carrying Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu’s comments and wrote: “Eight years later … and the lies continue unabated!”
Her post came shortly after Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu told Kessben FM in an interview that the EC, under her leadership, deliberately delayed the announcement of the 2016 results, citing a supposed “systematic hack” as justification.
According to him, the delay created tension across the country. “The Electoral Commissioner was reluctant to release and declare the 2016 election results, all in the name of systematic hacking, as the EC Chairperson claimed,” he said.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu further alleged that it took the intervention of chiefs, pastors, and businessman Ibrahim Mahama, who is the brother of then-President John Dramani Mahama, to convince the EC to finally release the results.
The veteran legislator accused Charlotte Osei of “perpetuating riot” by withholding the results and warned that the EC’s conduct nearly endangered the peace of the nation, though Ghanaians remained calm.
Charlotte Osei’s blunt response, however, suggests she views the claims as falsehoods being recycled for political purposes. Her words—“the lies continue unabated”—have fueled debate on social media, with some defending her integrity while others recall the controversies that surrounded her tenure.
Her removal from office in 2018 remains a contentious subject. While her critics, including Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, maintain that internal disputes within the EC justified her dismissal, supporters in the opposition NDC insist that she was unfairly sacked to cover up what they describe as “NPP’s rigging in 2016.”
For now, the war of words between Charlotte Osei and Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has reopened old wounds about one of Ghana’s most hotly contested elections.
